Matthew Salem Acquires 32,000 Shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Stock

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) CEO Matthew Salem purchased 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.84 per share, for a total transaction of $250,880.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 561,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,404,708. The trade was a 6.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust stock opened at $8.14 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.10. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a fifty-two week low of $7.78 and a fifty-two week high of $12.06. The company has a market cap of $532.83 million, a P/E ratio of -23.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a quick ratio of 423.43 and a current ratio of 423.43.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.04). KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a negative return on equity of 0.60% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.The business had revenue of $31.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.90 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.3%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s payout ratio is currently -285.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KREF. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 742.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 3,658 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 3,904.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KREF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $9.50 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price (down from $9.50) on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.94.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by commercial real estate (CRE) assets. It engages in the origination and purchase of credit investments related to CRE, including leveraged and unleveraged commercial real estate loans.